Upper-fastener for boots or shoes.



n 7|5,3|6.' Patented Dec. 9, i902.

' w. E. swszuv. UPPER FASTENER FOB BOOTS 0R SHOES.

(Application filed A 3, 1399.;

(No nodal.)

4 fvwefd'n THE scams vzrzns co.. PHOTO-LITNOH wnsumcnos. n. c.

in the drawings contains -UNITED STATES rrics.

WARREN EUGENE ELLIS, OF

HAVERHILL, MASSACHUSETTS.

UPPER-FASTENER FOR BOOTS OR'SHOES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 715,316, dated December 9, 1902.

Application filed April 3, 1899.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM E. SwnENY, of Brockton, county of Plymouth, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Upper-Fasteners for Boots or Shoes, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

My invention relates to detachable fastenore for temporarily securing together the eyeleted edges of the uppers of lace-shoes during the process of lasting and is intended to provide a simple and inexpensive device for the purpose referred to which can be readily attached to and detached from a shoe-upper from the outside thereof.

My inventionis illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective View showing a shoe with its upper temporarily fastened by the preferred form of my device. Fig. ,2 is a perspective view of the fastener detached. Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the fastener shown in Fig. 2, and Fig. L is an end view thereof looking from the right in Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawings, a and b are oppositely-facing eyelet-engagin g hooks united by a connecting portion 0 andadapted to enter a pair of opposite eyelets, as shown in Fig. l, and thereby connect and hold the edges of the upper in proper position during the process of lasting. It is usually desirable to fasten the edges of the upper at more than one point, and to this end the fastener shown two pairs of hooks a and b, which are united by a connection d, joined to the tops of the hooks b and corresponding in length to the distance between the two pairs of. eyelets which are to be united by the device. The connecting portion dwill thus extend along the outside of the upper at one end of the fastener, thereby providing a sort of handle, by means of which both pairs of hooks may be inserted simultaneously. This is accomplished from the outside of the upper by inserting the hooks a through the. eyelets at one side of the upper from'the out- Serial No. 711,527. (No model.)

side and then pushing the connections 6 through said eyelets until the latter are held within the hooks b, the hooks a being at the same time made to enter the opposite eyelets. Thus the very act of inserting the hooks a into their respective eyelets causes the hooks h also to engage their eyelets, through which the hooks a were first inserted. This construction not only makes my fastener capable of being attached to an upper more quickly and easily than those fasteners wherein each hook has to be inserted separately or from the inside of the upper, but it also makes my fastener more secure when attached, because the connection 61 prevents all possibility of the accidental detachment of the hooks b from their .respective eyelets. It also provides a fastener which can be made from one continuous piece of wire at a very low cost. The connections a are bent midway between the last with which the fastener is to be used, and thus present the bottoms of said hooks at the proper angle to be engaged by the eyelets and to resist the tension imposed upon them by the process of'lasting.

I do not consider my invention to be limited to any specific number of pairs of hooks a and b as long as they are all connected on one side only of the fastener substantially in the manner above described.

I claim as my invention A detachable fastener for shoe-uppers consisting of a plurality of eyelet-connecting portions each provided with oppositely-facing, upturned open hooks, and bent upwardly midway between said hooks, and a flexible connecting portion united to the upper ends of the hooks at one side of the fastener, the

substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM E. SWEENY. Witnesses:

JOHN M. WARD,

DENNIS OBRIEN.

the hooks a and b to conform to the front of whole being formed from one piece of wire, 

